The Sun Never Sets In Spain - Chapter 207
So Antonio still said: “Your Majesty, you don’t know, Andrew is already a deacon in purple, and at this point, the promotion sequence generally moves in the direction of bishop in black.
If you want to change to a priest in the middle, you need to go through a consecration ceremony first.
And you are preparing to split the Archdiocese of Madrid from the Archdiocese of Toledo.
The transition from priest to archbishop still needs to go through the transition of assistant bishops and diocese bishops, directly across three levels. There is no such precedent in the church.
Besides, Deacon Andrew is too young. I remember that he is only 34 years old. In the past, there were people in the church who became cardinals before the age of 20, but they were all in Rome.
Madrid is the largest city in Europe, and to manage this diocese well, you have to be a seasoned person. ”
Antonio explained a lot with his heart and soul, and even shook the black history of the church, hoping to impress the king with this.
After he finished speaking, he looked at Alfonso rather apprehensively.
Judging from past experience, this Spanish king still reveres God, and he may be able to return from the wrong way.
Alfonso looked at the other party’s performance and smiled. He naturally reveres God, but the church has little to do with God.
He didn’t have to lift Andrew up so much. In fact, it was the same for someone else. He just wanted to use this to intimidate and persecute the church.
The religious reform in Spain this time has been acquiesced by the Roman Church. In addition, he has mastered all the military power in Spain. There is really no need to compromise with the people below. The tougher the means, the better.
Alfonso waved his hand to stop Antonio’s further persuasion:
“There will be a consecration ceremony, but it’s just a few in one.
As for the question of age, I think he is fine. The king of Spain has the right to appoint the priesthood within the country, and if the bishop has any objection, he can raise it to Rome. ”
“!” Antonio opened his mouth and couldn’t say anything, and he was shocked.
The other party took the initiative to ask him to go to the Pope, and then he remembered that he sent a message to the church three days ago, and now there is no reply…
He didn’t dare to think about it anymore, and left with a goodbye.
In the next few days, someone came to Antonio to come forward, he just prevaricates the matter, and no longer expresses any views on domestic changes.
Without Antonio’s interference, the Archdiocese of Toledo successfully split the Archdiocese of Madrid.
Except for Antonio, this behavior basically does not affect the interests of anyone, so it did not cause any waves.
But then came the highlight, Andrew was to be ordained at the Basilica of San Francisco.
There are many pairs of eyes staring at whether this ceremony can be successfully completed.
In principle, at the level of the archbishop, only the cardinal and the pope can officiate.
Spain had 3 cardinals at this time, but none of them were willing to serve as officiants, so the only option was to draw people from Rome.
Moreover, even if the Spanish cardinal is willing to hold this consecration ceremony, the Church will send someone to celebrate it.
Time has come to June 20, and there is less than a week before the scheduled consecration ceremony.
At this time, in a hall of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pius IX was arguing with several people in red robes opposite.
These people are the masters of the church. There are 70 cardinals in total, but only about ten can really influence the operation of the country and the church.
Others are either only in name or are too far away, like Antonio is also one of the cardinals, but his cardinal status is only because he has a name in a church in Rome, such a cardinal is second-class Cardinal priest, the deterrent power is obviously not as good as the head of the Spanish church, so Antonio generally does not walk in this identity.
“Holy See, if we agree to the request of the King of Spain, the religious power will be completely over in Europe.” Card Janos Seymour said calmly.
There were some political disagreements and conflicts of interest between him and Pius IX, but this was a common phenomenon, and it was not enough to disregard the future of the church.
From a personal point of view, he should support the Pope to go to Madrid for ordination, so that the Pope’s authority is bound to be greatly weakened.
The Pope is lifelong and cannot be overthrown, but this does not prevent them from taking advantage of this opportunity.
But he didn’t, not only him, but everyone around him.
“Holy See, once this consecration is completed, not only Spain, but also the Italian states and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will no longer be under our jurisdiction. In the future, the place where the Church can directly manage will be a small Papal State.” Cardinal Giovanni He also warned.
Opposite them, Pius IX, who was sitting on the throne, was not as calm as he appeared to be.
Does he want to be led by the nose in Spain? He doesn’t want to either!
His original agreement with Alfonso was not to interfere with the internal affairs of the Spanish Church, but he never said that the Roman Church would help.
But he couldn’t help it. When they made the agreement, the Spanish army had not set foot on the land of Rome, but now the other party has not only set foot on it, but also completed the complete bundling of military and economic, and even the submarine cable is preparing to start construction.
The Spanish government does not interfere very much in the politics of the Papal State, but other aspects are controlled, and there is no difference between interfering in politics or not.
“Alas.” Pius IX sighed heavily, the territory of the Papal State was re-expanded, and the degree of freedom was even comparable to that of the prisoner of Avignon, which was not happy at all.
The captivity of Avignon was a turning point in the struggle for clerical power, and it may be the same today.
The Pope’s sigh stopped the cardinals on the opposite side for a moment, but they quickly continued to criticize. Now is not the time to be merciful, and one must be pushed out to reject Spain.
Holding his forehead, Pius IX paused before saying, “You think I rejected King Alfonso, so that’s the end of it?
You are already a cardinal, and naturally you do not want to weaken the power of the Church, but young people do not think so. ”
Then, he pointed to Giovanni and then to Seymour: “You, you… and you… and me, everyone will be replaced, everyone, not for your own sake, but also for your own illegitimate children, Mistress and gold think!”
After speaking, Pius IX felt a burst of joy. He had wanted to say these words for a long time, and he didn’t listen to him when he spoke in an official tone, so he could only speak in the vernacular.
Sure enough, the other side was shocked when they heard the words,
“Pope!” “Holy See!”
But Pius IX ignored them and continued: “I will personally go to Madrid to consecrate Andrew. The glory of the Church in Europe is doomed to be lost, but if Spain can be satisfied, South America, Africa and the Far East, we can still There are other opportunities.”